huntrule

Windows Sysinternals PsSuspend Process Execution

Alerts on execution of Sysinternals PsSuspend on Windows via process creation events.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2023-03-23
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule flags process creation events where an executed binary is Sysinternals PsSuspend (pssuspend.exe, pssuspend64.exe, or pssuspend64a.exe). Suspending processes can disrupt normal system operation and may be used as part of persistence or other attacker workflows. Detection relies on Windows process creation telemetry identifying the executable via OriginalFileName and file path/filename suffixes.

Reporting behind it

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Malicious Service Creation Masquerading as nslookup (via process_creation)
Interactive Service Creation Executing cmd via sc.exe
Malicious Known Vulnerable Driver Load for BYOVD Attack
Malicious ValleyRAT KernelQuick Rootkit Service and Shellcode Store Registry Keys
Windows Sysinternals PsSuspend Process Execution
Pivot detection · T1543.003 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.